Wenesday evening moment of random: Hillary Duff appears like the good fairy in this PSA to explain what’s wrong with saying, “That’s so gay.”
Except that she doesn’t actually explain what’s wrong with it. I mean, not to pick holes, but if I had literally no idea what was offensive about using “gay” to mean “kind of lame”, I’m not sure this video would totally nail it for me. Thoughts?
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14 comments
It could be more clear for sure. I have seen others that I think are better.
Wanda Sykes is in this one ---> http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJrw5Z...
These are American PSAs. I think they are trying to make them palatable to the most people possible. I mean, just looking at the American election there is so much more apparent discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
I wonder if they were Canadian PSAs if they would more explicitly tackle homophobia.
Posted by Jenna
October 9, 2008, 11:40 AM
let's make one, and find out!
seriously, I'm sure Shameless and groups like The Miss G__ Project could team up (with other organizations) and make a great PSA!
Posted by Sheetal
October 9, 2008, 12:02 PM
Sheetal, you're on!
Posted by Megan
October 9, 2008, 12:07 PM
Ugh, that PSA is soooo girl-wearing-a-skirt-as-a-top.
Posted by Michelle
October 9, 2008, 12:40 PM
Sheetal, why don't you put your activism where your mouth is.....
Posted by Jenna
October 9, 2008, 12:46 PM
Not to be a jerk Cate, but I also dislike the word "lame" - it does the same thing to people with mobility disabilities as "gay" does to queer people.
I don't think Duff (or the ad) needs to go into what the word "gay" means. Its use is such a regular part of young person vocabulary, from what I can tell. I feel like the people the ad is aimed at totally know what's going on. Also I've noticed it's changed meaning - when I was in high school (because I'm such an old lady), it meant something flamboyant, cheesy or corny. Now it seems like people use it to refer to things that are troublesome or stupid. Like when my old boss scheduled my co-worker for back-to-back shifts, he said it was just "so totally gay."
Jenna - I've actually noticed a lot of PSAs, particularly on MuchMusic, that are pretty good. This one from KeepControl.ca is about alcohol use and date rape: http://www.keepcontrol.ca/a_v.html
There was one really good one that I can't find, don't know who made it, but it showed a teenage boy screaming and yelling at a teenage girl working in a fast food restaurant (I think), and said something to the effect that verbal abuse is abuse. I wouldn't be surprised if an anti-homophobia one ran soon.
Posted by Thea
October 9, 2008, 1:08 PM
In a high school class discussion I had the following furious conversation with a really annoying guy:
Me: "...so that's why women and men should play together in professional sports."
Him: "Are you kidding? Letting women play for the Leafs would be retarded."
Me: "But why, exactly?"
Him: "They can have their own teams. But they can't play with men! It would be insane!"
Me: "You're not explaining why!"
Him: "Because! Are you kidding? It would be retarded! It would be totally gay!"
Teacher cuts in: "Okay . Now you've offended women, homosexuals, people with mental illness and disabilities... Are there any other groups you'd like to insult or have you sufficiently not made your point?"
That teacher was my hero.
Posted by Erin E.
October 9, 2008, 1:52 PM
Thea - I actually had a whole dilemma about whether to use the word "lame", because I couldn't decide if it was a word that was still used to describe physically disabled people, or whether it was derogatory or offensive. In the end I guess I decided it had undergone a change in meaning, but on reflection maybe not one for the better. So, apologies for any offense caused.
Posted by Cate
October 9, 2008, 3:05 PM
take my hand Jenna, and let's create a PSA together -- Megan has joined the revolutionary idea train, why not get aboard too!
Posted by Sheetal
October 9, 2008, 3:37 PM
I think "lame" has undergone a change in meaning - but so has the word "gay". A lot of words that are offensive or hurtful have buried roots, which lets us forget that they're problematic. Like the N-word - these days, just like the word "bitch", a lot of people just use it to refer to their friends. Even the word "moron" - today it is generally thought of as a synonym for "stupid person" and not as hurtful as "retard", but it meant the same thing a few decades ago. So for me, even if a word has undergone a meaning change, I still try not to use it if it has some kind of oppressive history.
One word I am having a very hard time removing from my vocab though is "crazy".
Posted by Thea
October 9, 2008, 4:05 PM
I very much enjoy wearing a skirt as a top, thank you very much.
Posted by Stacey May
October 9, 2008, 4:43 PM
Deleted. Please consult our comments policy, specifically "We will delete comments that attack our bloggers or other commenters."
Posted by WEB EDITOR
October 9, 2008, 7:43 PM
That was really not so hard-hitting. I kinda ended up thinking 'so does Hilary like the pink shirt or not??'
Posted by Miriam
October 10, 2008, 3:14 PM
So good to see this about "gay". I'm comfortable with "lame", mostly because I can't imagine it being used to discribe a person with walking difficulty anymore, except maybe in an older text or about animals with walking problems. Maybe the issue is that it's just so hard to imagine a person actually understanding "lame" as a reference to disability that's current and painful anymore. For me, I guess, collective memory of the language plays a role here, but I'm finding that I really can't verbalize why I'm okay with it in this case and not in some others. I guess it just has to do with knowing the people I associate with and the way they understand my words and the way I am comfortable being heard.
Posted by Myra
October 11, 2008, 1:35 PM
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